Computer How-To

Since so much of our work in this class will involve the computers, this page will help you with the procedures we commonly use. For ideas about specific software, go to CFF Tools ! One of our first activities was to make a document introducing ourselves through the medium of ComicLife. Here is my introduction!

How Do I Take A Screen Shot?
The MacBook offers several ways to take a screen shot. The one I usually use is ⌘⇧4, which gives you crosshairs to drag around the region you want, and leaves the picture file on your desktop. ⌘⇧3 takes the whole screen and puts it on your desktop. Adding a ctrl to either combination puts the picture on your clipboard, but not on your desktop.

How Do I Replace the Voice-Over in a Movie?
The iMovie program allows you to import movie clips, cut out the volume of the original, and use the built-in microphone to record your own voice. Here's a screencast showing the process!

Log-In Procedure:
"Students, when using their own accounts, will log in to district computers differently this year. Their username will be their student number and their password will be their birthday in the form year month day. Students will not be able to change their passwords.
For instance if my birthday was June 10th 1980 and my student number was 101055 my login would be:
Username: 101055
Password: 19800610 " --from an e-mail from A. Zirkel, 09/01/2008

Student E-Mail Access (gaggle.net)
"Student usernames for gaggle will be first initial and last name. We will have some duplicates, [requiring adjusted usernames, and I will contact any of my students if this applies to them].
Example... Daniel Boone would login as: dboone@umasd.gaggle.net
Passwords format [will be the same as student log-in procedure." --an e-mail from M. Erb, 09/02/2008

QUIA (On-line Quiz Site)
Student usernames are FirstnameLastname627, and passwords will have the same format as the student-log-in procedure. For example, Bill Gates would be WilliamGates627 (note the use of the full first name).

Hand-In Robot
A computer program designed by Mr. Montalvo makes it easy to hand-in your work digitally. The "robot" can be found by opening the Building Share directory on your dock and opening the A1Robot folder. From there, drag the robot icon to your desktop (you will only do this step once, unless directed by your teacher). To use the robot, find the file you want to turn in and drag it onto the robot and release. The robot should prompt you for your teacher and period. The robot will rename your file using your period and name so there will be no duplication with other students.

PDF It!
PDF is a document format that is small in size and readable by most computer users, even if the reader does not have the software used to create the file. Many times, I will ask you to "PDF it before you send it!" To do this, select File, Print, and the click on the PDF tab at the bottom right of the print window. Then you will have choices about naming the file and choosing a location for the file. If you choose "Desktop", it will be easy to drag the PDF document to the Hand-In Robot.


JPEG It!
JPEG is an image format that is small in size and can be used in most applications. It is a common format on the Web. If you are in a program (like OmniGraffle), you can export the image to a JPEG format. Many times, I will ask you to "JPEG it!". To do this, select, File, Export, and choose the options as shown in the image below.


Google Account
We will use Google Docs and other Google tools frequently in this class. You will need to set up a Google account using your Gaggle address. (If you already have a Google account, you will still need to make one with your Gaggle address, so you can use it with the school's network.) Once you set up a Google account, you will need to create a Google Doc and invite me to participate. My Google account will be scox@umasd.gaggle.net.